Chapter 4

Clara Norris was an even better actress than I'd expected.

Three days before the trial, a sudden wail rose up from downstairs.

I walked to the window and looked down.

Clara Norris, hair hanging loose, stood in the middle of the complex's garden, pulling along a small, skinny girl in a school uniform.

The girl kept her head down, still with her bleached hair and heavy makeup.

The moment Clara saw the old men and women out for their strolls gathering around, she dropped to her knees with a thud.

"Neighbors! Please, I'm begging you, stand up for my daughter!"

She cried like her heart was being torn apart.

"My daughter's still in school!"

"That beast-hearted old man Aiden Head ruined her reputation!"

"That whole family's got money and power, and they're bullying us, a widow and her child!"

"Do you know how hard it is for a woman like me to raise a kid on my own?!"

A woman nearby walking her dog hurried over to help her up.

"Are you talking about that senior engineer at the design institute?"

"That's the one!"

Clara's shoulders heaved with her sobs.

"He looks just like a decent man!"

"But what he did is nothing a human being would do!"

"To this day my girl has nightmares every night. She's been diagnosed with all kinds of psychological problems!"

She held up a diagnosis form of unknown authenticity.

"Now she cries every day and can't even go to school."

"If this keeps up, her whole future is ruined!"

"And that family? They didn't even offer a single apology, and now they want to take us to court!"

A few passing neighbors glanced at each other and sighed.

"That old man always seemed so proper. How could he do something like that…"

"You can know a person's face but never their heart!"

Clara threw an arm around the girl beside her, Jemima Norris, and pushed her forward for everyone to see.

"Look at how terrified my daughter is!"

"She's lost ten pounds!"

"She still has the bruise on her wrist from when she was shoved that day!"

"That old geezer's family won't pay a cent, and they still want to take us to court!"

"Where's the justice in that?"

Jemima never once looked up, but she didn't argue either.

She stayed curled up in Clara's arms, like a prop.

Clearly, Clara had made her scene at the workplace with her daughter, then brought it to our home, all to shame my father to death.

And in doing so, force us to pay that settlement and just smooth the whole thing over.

My dad had come over at some point and seen what was happening downstairs too.

I said:

"It's fine. Let her put on her show."

"The harder she works at it, the harder she'll fall tomorrow."

My dad didn't say anything, but he stood up straight.

We refused to believe there was no justice left in the world.

The morning of the hearing, my mom was up by six.

She kept pacing back and forth outside my dad's door and mine.

She gripped the doorframe, her knuckles white.

"There's something I want to talk over with you."

"Go ahead."

"Can we… can we think about this again?"

"This is the last chance."

"Let's not go to court. Your dad and I will go apologize to Clara Norris."

"Four hundred thousand—your uncle will lend a hundred thousand, we'll pull two hundred thousand out of the fixed deposit, and borrow another hundred thousand. We tighten our belts and pay it off in two years and…"

"Mom."

I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"You're always taking an outsider's side. What is that supposed to be?"

My mom couldn't hold it in either, and raised her voice.

"Don't act like I'm just being foolish!"

"Your dad worked his whole life, and right before retirement something like this comes up. How is he supposed to face anyone now?"

"What will all his old classmates think of him?"

"How am I supposed to hold my head up with my own family?"

As she talked, the tears started falling.

"Sonia, I'm begging you, please."

"Just back down this once, and the whole thing is over…"

I have to admit, it felt like being stabbed in the back.

Right when I was fighting to clear my father's name, my mom was insisting he plead guilty.

The anger surged up in my chest, and I forced it back down.

"Mom," I said. I gritted my teeth and did my best to keep my tone calm.

"After this lawsuit, everything will be over."

"I'll do exactly what I say!"

My mom tried to stop me again, but I pushed her aside.

In the elevator we ran into the woman from downstairs walking her dog.

When she saw us, she gave a little snort through her nose, hugged her dog, and shrank into the corner. Then she turned and muttered to the person beside her.

"It's their family…"

"Sleazy old man—disgusting, bad luck…"

I shot her a glance and ignored her.

Out the building's front door, the sunlight hit my face and made me squint.

Clara Norris and her handful of relatives were already waiting at the courthouse entrance.

Seeing us arrive, she gave a little sneer and jerked her chin toward us, as if to say, "Just wait to die."

I gripped the USB drive in my bag tightly.

Fine. Then let's see who's really the one waiting to die.